International Standards for Detaining Terrorism Suspects: Moving Beyond the Armed Conflict- Criminal Divide

Although sometimes described as war, the fight against transnational jihadi groups (referred to for shorthand as the "fight against terrorism") largely takes place away from any recognizable battlefield. Terrorism suspects are captured in houses, on street comers, and at border crossings around the globe. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the high-level Qaeda operative who planned the September 11 attacks, was captured by the Pakistani government in a residence in Pakistan. Abu Omar, a radical Muslim imam, was apparently abducted by U.S. and Italian agents off the streets of Milan.

And Abu Baker Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Qaeda-affiliated group responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings, was arrested in a hospital in Indonesia. Once captured, these suspects face a host of possible futures: they might be deported to their states of nationality; they might be criminally prosecuted for offenses under national law; they might be transferred to a foreign state for detention and interrogation; or they might be detained for extended periods in national detention facilities, like the U.S. facility at Guantdinamo Bay, Cuba.